My new 4- week and 8-week on-Line courses begin this Wednesday, the 7th. It's still not too late to sign up.
For example, want to make money in photography? Learn how to market photos like the puppy below. Want to feel more confident in exposure? Learn how to expose white subjects like the puppy. Interested in learning more about Photoshop (like putting fireworks in the sky as I did over the Monte Carlo casino below). Learn how to incorporate pictures like the puppy into another image.
I teach several 8-week and 4-week courses on-line for Betterphoto.com
The way the courses work is this. Every Wednesday, you receive a lesson that consists of text and photos, explaining various principles in either photography or digitral manipulation. At the end of each lesson there is an assignment, and you have plenty of time to take pictures and upload them for my critique. You can use photos you did specifically for the assignment or images that you have taken previously.
On-line photo courses are like virtual classrooms but not in real time. Other students can see your pictures, read my critiques, and comment on your work. Similarly, you can comment on the pictures of other students.
One of the wonderful things about these on-line courses is that students participate from all over the world. In a single lesson's uploads, you may see pictures from Bryce Canyon or Brazil, or from Singapore or South Carolina. It's a very simulating environment as well as a learning experience, and it will help you become the photographer or digital artist that you want to be.
On the Betterphoto.com website, you can read the lesson outline of each course and see sample photos. In addition to going to Betterphoto.com, you can also access the courses I teach drectly by going to my website, jimzuckerman.com, and clicking on the link 'Courses'. at the top of the home page.
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Message
The company that made one of the best Photoshop plug-ins, Buzz,
has gone out of business. Instead of selling the technology, they have just disappeared. If you want to get this plug-in now, you have to know someone who has it. If you don't already know about this filter, on my website (jimzuckerman.com) all the images in the 'Fine Art Color' category were done with Buzz.
If you don't know anyone who has Buzz and you want it, drop me a note and let me know if you have a PC or a Macintosh computer and I'll email it to you along with the password.
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Spring flower photography in
the The Netherlands
I just got back from photographing probably the best and most awesome garden in the world. Keukenhof Gardens in Holland.  It is an unbelievable display of outrageous color, and it was hard to know where to start because everywhere I looked there was an amazing composition. Keukenhof is 80 acres of manicured perfection, and I didn't even see one weed!
Keukenhof is famous for tulips, but they have many other varieties of flowers as well. The mixture of color and form is done in such an artful way that, in my opinion, it would be humanly impossible to create a more beautiful garden. If you have never been there, put it on your list -- and it should be near the top of that list -- to go there at some point in the future. I would recommend the last week in April although the weather can affect when the exact peak time occurs. 
In spite of the fact that this was macro photography heaven, I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to approach this place like I was doing landscape photography. I used a number of lenses, including my 16-35mm, a 24-105mm, and a 90mm tilt/shift lens (this allowed me to use telephoto compression while maintaining complete depth of field due to the ability of the lens to tilt).
One of the things that I felt was important was to get into the gardens before they opened to the public. They open at 8am, and I was able to get permission to get into the gardens with my group at 6am. Since 15,000 people visit the gardens per day during the peak time, this was really important and that's why when you see these pictures you don't see any people. Once the flood gates open and the throngs of people enter, I could still do macro photography but it became impossible to do serious landscape work.
 Contrary to what many people believe, direct sunlight is not ideal for floral photography. Much better is soft and diffused lighting. The minimal contrast is more flattering to the flowers, and the colors are intense and saturated. This is not what you'd expect, but it's nevertheless true.
 It was also crucial to use a tripod. Doing this kind of photography hand-held is like shooting yourself in the foot. It's pointless. You will never get the kind of depth of field you really need unless you can use a firm support because the long exposures allow you to use small lens apertures.
And speaking of long exposures, the wind is a flower photographer's enemy. Even the slightest movement means that your pictures won't be tack sharp. It is really important to study very carefully if the flowers in your viewfinder are perfectly still or not. That's another reason it's good to get into the gardens early. The air is usually very still at dawn. As soon as the sun rises, even if it's overcast and you can't see the sun itself, the air starts to stir and so do the flowers.
 In other areas of Holland during this time of year you can see windmills, long rows of cultivated tulips, and quaint traditional villages. I took advantage of my time there to shoot some of these other subjects, and one of the most exciting things I did was to hire an airplane and fly over the colorful fields for an aerial view. When I travel, post cards are one of my methods of researching photo locations. Ten to fifteen years ago I saw a post card of a shot like this and it never left my mind. So, after all this time, I finally did the aerial photography myself and got some amazing graphic patterns of the flowers.
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Self Critique
This species of poison dart frog is one of the incredible creatures we will be photographing during my Frog and Reptile photo workshop in St. Louis on August 23 and 24 (there are 4 spaces still available). I love this picture because of the outstretched body and the remarkable markings on the frog. To me, this almost looks like a piece of jewelry -- like a frog brooch. I like the depth of field and the lighting, too.
However, there is one thing that really bothers me. The very pronounced graphic lines of the leaf are distracting. My eyes are diverted from the frog to the graphics of the leaf, and that's not how a successful picture is supposed to work. My attention should stay on the subject. It also bothers me that I cropped part of the right foot off as well as the tip of a finger at the top of the frame. Sometimes these little guys move quickly and it's a challenge to follow them and keep them within the frame. This is especially true if they extend themselves. Nevertheless, I wish I had not clipped those body parts.
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 AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE SEMINAR
I am happy to announce a new seminar. A couple of months ago, I had such a great time and took so many amazing pictures photographing frogs that I've arranged to offer you the same experience. It will be a 2-day seminar in St.Louis, Missouri on August 23, 24. I will set up natural looking environments and you will be able to take some of the best macro shots of your life. The subjects will include many species of poison dart frogs, geckos, chameleons, and other intriguing creatures. The seminar is limited to 8 people, and lighting will be provided (although you are welcome to bring your own flash equipment). You can read more about this by clicking this link:
http://www.jimzuckermanworkshops.com/
 
These are the types of images you can expect to take during the seminar. When you first see these creatures, it is surprising how small some of them are. The brown and cream frog above in the red flower is about the size of a nickle or dime!
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